Trump tariff war: What is Europe’s ‘trade bazooka’? How it could hit US

Rattled by US President Donald Trump’s remarks linked to Greenland, the European Union is weighing possible countermeasures against Washington, reviving debate over its so-called “trade bazooka” — a powerful but rarely used economic tool formally known as the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI).

While the issue has resurfaced at the highest political levels, most of the EU’s 27 member states remain cautious about deploying the instrument, wary of escalating tensions into a broader transatlantic trade confrontation, according to an AP report.


The ‘trade bazooka’ refers to the Anti-Coercion Instrument, a legal framework that allows the EU to retaliate against countries deemed to be exerting undue economic pressure on EU member states or companies. Measures under the ACI range from restricting imports and exports of goods and services to barring firms from EU public procurement and limiting foreign direct investment. In its most severe form, the instrument could sharply curtail — or even shut — access to the EU’s 450-million-consumer market, potentially inflicting billions of dollars in losses on US companies and the American economy.

Why was the Anti-Coercion Instrument created in the first place?
The ACI was created by the European Commission in 2021, following China’s trade restrictions on Lithuania over Vilnius’s ties with Taiwan. At the time, the commission said the mechanism was intended primarily as a deterrent, stressing that its success would lie in not having to be used.

“The primary objective of the ACI is deterrence. The instrument will, therefore, be most successful if there is no need to use it,” the commission said in a statement issued before the current Greenland-related tensions.

How quickly could Brussels activate the ACI against the US?
Even if political backing were to emerge, the instrument is not designed for rapid deployment. Activating the ACI would take at least six months, involving assessments, consultations and approvals, making it a slow-moving but potentially far-reaching response rather than an immediate retaliatory step.

With EU–US trade at $2 trillion, what is really at stake?
The economic stakes are high. EU–US trade in goods and services was valued at about 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or roughly 4.6 billion euros a day, according to Eurostat. Europe’s largest exports to the United States include pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits, while major US exports to the EU range from professional and scientific services such as cloud infrastructure and payment systems to oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, aerospace products and automobiles.

With trade ties of this scale, EU capitals remain divided over whether deploying the ‘trade bazooka’ would deter Washington — or risk triggering a damaging transatlantic trade war.